Dear Insane Children,
First off – an apology for not sharing the news here first on Patreon. When the story came out, it was already nearly midnight here in Shanghai and we were snuggled on the bed with Lucky. But better late and all that…
The Big News!
As the image above proclaims – David Hayter has signed on to bring “Alice” to TV!!!! Wooo!
You can read the full announcement over on The Hollywood Reporter.
As Wikipedia says, “David is a Canadian actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. He is well known as the English-language voice actor for Solid Snake and Naked Snake in the Metal Gear video game series. He wrote the film X-Men, co-wrote X2, and Watchmen, and was awarded the Saturn Award for Best Writing in 2000 for his work on X-Men.
In short – a video game character is adapting a video game into a TV series 😉
But seriously… this puts “Alice” in great hands. David has a ton of experience in television and film as a writer, director, and showrunner. And it’s his name, experience, and creative vision that will help bring this project to life on the small screen.
I am very honored to have him on board and very excited to see where he takes Alice on her next adventure.
How’d We Get Here?
I first want to point out that this development is a direct result of the support and work we’ve done here on Patreon. This would NOT have happened if it were not for YOU – our Insane Children – and the support and trust you’ve provided to our team of artists, designers, and writers.
The Alice: Asylum pre-production effort is what attracted the attention of Radar Pictures. And it’s Radar who has hired David to work on the TV project.
A Giant THANK YOU and WELL DONE to our Insane Children!!!
You are amazing!
What’s Next?
This means we can expect a lot more attention on the Alice franchise in general. There will be more eyeballs on the “Asylum” work – and more interest in the development of new game content (plus the re-master/something) of the older games.
For our pre-production team – We’re going to continue pushing to get the Design Bible done for “Alice: Asylum” and Alex just sent over some beautiful new layouts that he’s working on to define the style for the overall presentation:
And I’ve already had creative chats with David to discuss ideas for the show – which means there’s a good chance we’ll be involved in and have visibility into the development of the TV show. I will do my best to keep the fans involved with the project via Patreon.
What About A Game?
It’s my sense that a successful TV development will result in a new game. If “Alice” gets picked up by, say, Netflix or HBO, there’s a good chance those companies will want to see game content developed alongside the TV show. Or it may be that EA finally decides to make a move – they do have a record of letting others move first before they make big decisions.
Whatever comes next… the great news is that we have a TON of material prepared to clearly show our vision for the 3rd game in the series. And, again, that is entirely a result of YOU and your support. With that material in hand, the job of explaining what comes next in the series is made much, much easier.
Live Stream and More Questions
We are now smack in the middle of the Chinese New Year holiday here in China. Fortuitous timing for the announcement of this project – and a great way to start the Year of The Tiger – but kinda crappy for trying to host a normal live stream.
I think we’ll try to do a Zoom Stream of some sort – where Martin and I connect over the internet (as opposed to him being in the same room with me). That way, we can discuss this news in more detail and we can answer some of your questions. I’ll post the timing for that soon…
Got Questions? Leave them in the comments below. We’ll address them during that stream.
More More!
There’s so much buzzing around inside my head at the moment. This is a big event and I feel it’s going to lead to even bigger things in the coming years…
Let us know in the comments below what you think!
And, one more time: Thank You!
And, finally, let’s all welcome David to our Wonderland!
From Shanghai with Joy,
-American